1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying ink in a printer and, more particularly, to an ink supply apparatus of a printer having an improved structure which enables the printer to read property information regarding the ink supplied and which enables an ink supply container to be installed easily.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid printer uses ink as a developer and includes an ink supply apparatus for supplying ink.
Referring to explanatory FIG. 1, a typical liquid printer includes a plurality of laser scanning units (LSU) 12 for scanning light to a circulating photoreceptor web 11, and a plurality of developing apparatuses 13 for supplying ink of various colors to the photoreceptor web 11.
Each of the developing apparatuses 13 supplies ink of a predetermined color to the photoreceptor web 11 to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor web 11 by the corresponding LSU 12. The developing apparatus 13 receives ink through an ink supply apparatus. In this case, the ink supply apparatus includes an ink injection portion 14 installed at the printer and an ink supply container 15 installed at the ink injection portion 14 for supplying ink. The ink supply container 15 is a consumable container for supplying ink, which is installed at the ink injection portion 14, if necessary, and is detached from the printer at all other times.
The properties of the ink used in a printer may vary depending on the manufacturer or technical development. Thus, to obtain high quality print outputs, conditions for development of a printer should be adjusted corresponding to the properties of the supplied ink. Also, to enable normal performance of exchange of information between the printer and the ink supply container 15, electrical connection between an ink injection portion 14 and the ink supply container 15 should be convenient.
To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink supply apparatus of a printer having an improved structure so that information regarding the properties of the ink contained in the ink supply container can be provided to the controller of the printer and also the electrical connection structure is convenient when the ink supply container is installed at the ink injection portion.
Accordingly, to achieve the above object, there is provided an ink supply apparatus of a printer and which comprises an ink supply container for containing ink which includes a memory module for recording information about the ink contained in the ink supply container, a plurality of exposed terminals formed at the outer circumferential surface of the ink supply container, and a plurality of internal signal lines for internally connecting the exposed terminals and the memory module; and an ink injection portion, provided at the printer, at which the ink supply container is installed and which includes a connection terminal portion electrically connected to the exposed terminals when the ink supply container is installed, in which, when the ink supply container is installed at the ink injection portion, information can be exchanged between the controller and the memory module.